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I gave a guest lecture earlier this week in DCU to final year and masters' multimedia students . For the lecture, I decided to take a look back over 2013 and pick out some of the key things that happened in social, community and content and how they have affected, or might affect, media companies. Thought I'd share some of them here also:
2013 was another huge year for video. Media companies with any sense made it a large part of their strategies. I could easily write a half-dozen posts just on video and the major developments, but here I'm only going to talk about the trend towards shorter videos.
Vine was introduced to iOS users in January with an upward limit of six seconds. Its simple format uncomplicated video, making it easy to shoot and even easier to upload. Soon after it launched, media organisations started to try it out as a distribution platform. One company that has been using it well is Ireland's RTÉ, which has been leveraging the platform to showcase its archives. Archive material can be inaccessible but using Vine brings it to a new audience. Here's an example: buying the Christmas turkey in Ireland, 1964. A month after its iOS launch Vine was used to cover a news event when reporter Tulin Daloglu used it after the bombing of the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey. In many senses Vine was just the catalyst as it was Instagram that took the ball and really ran with it.
In June, Instagram added video to its product, enabling users to create clips of up to 15 seconds. Smartly, Instagram allowed users to upload videos shot outside the confines of the app, which meant media organisations could edit and produce content before uploading. I really like what mobile news start-up NowThis News has done with Instagram as a distribution platform in recent months. Here are a few examples: Syria, the UN and chemical weapons, ice rink opening in Tehran, photos of winter storm Dion from the community.
On the news gathering side, Storyful's Malachy Browne recently wrote a good blogpost on Instagram as a source of news video, it's worth a read.
We really began to experience the impact of Facebook's 2012 IPO this year. A week didn't go by without a new headline about a possible or confirmed change to the social networking site's ad platform or its News Feed (this week it was auto play videos in the News Feed). Facebook is clearly pushing hard to generate revenues and keep investors happy. A lot of page managers had anecdotally talked about organic post reach falling, but Ad Ages's story earlier this month seems to have confirmed this. This change certainly affects brands marketing products, but it is likely to also have an impact on news sites that built large audience numbers on their Facebook pages (often spending to do so) as a way to drive traffic to their sites. Facebook wants pages owners to pay to reach the audiences they have built. This is definitely something to watch in 2014 as Facebook continues its experiments with the News Feed.
2013 brought Twitter's IPO. Like Facebook, we've been hearing a lot about changes to Twitter's ad platform with users receiving emails every week encouraging them to advertise to build audience. It's early day yet, but it's inevitable that the public nature of the company will mean an increased focus on revenue-driving measures in 2014, which will have knock-on effects on users, brands and media.
It is worth noting that both platforms invested in reaching out to big media companies this year.
Content created with social in mind (like Buzzfeed, Upworthy, Distractify, ViralNova) boomed in 2013. Upworthy, which launched in 2012, had a huge impact this year. According to Newswhip, which analyses and ranks publishers in terms of social sharing, Upworthy didn't feature in the top 40 social sharing websites in 2012, but by 2013 this year it had charged into the number 5 spot above The New York Times, the Daily Mail and the Guardian. It's a feat that is even more interesting when you consider that, on average, Upworthy only publishes 250 stories a month, substantially less than its social-sharing-focused competitors. There are some good practices within Upworthy – most notably that staff members write 25 headlines for each piece of content they post (good explainer on this here). I also think its tagline is so simple: 'Things that matter. Pass 'em on.' In just six words Upworthy tells users what it is and what it would like users to do. I'm not sure exactly how long the Upworthy formula can sustain but we'll continue to keep an eye on it.
Buzzfeed's announcement that its partner sites received a huge boost in referral traffic from Facebook is significant. Traffic from Facebook referrals to Buzzfeed's 200 partner network sites are up 69% from August to October of this year. Facebook is placing a premium on, and rewarding content that is entertaining, funny and valuable.
There are some drawbacks, of course, to this. Firstly, let's not forget what happened with content farm Demand Media, which is now valued at a quarter of its peak value. Demand Media created content to appear in multi-word searches. However, Google's shift in its algorithms made content from websites like Demand Media's a lower priority, drastically reducing traffic to its site. I think it's a cautionary tale for sites that hitch their wagons to platforms like Facebook relying on them for almost all their traffic. Bryan Goldberg wrote an interesting piece on why viral content is a bad business model, it's a must read.
With Facebook's algorithms placing an emphasis on content created for a social audience it's likely going to lead to smaller markets becoming even more competitive and it will become more challenging for straight news sites to get traction on these platforms.
Email newsletters have, of course, been around for a very long time, but for a lot of news organisations they were farmed out to someone very junior to write or pulled direct from the RSS feed. I don't know why organisations bother sending these mails, they are so ineffective.
However this year there have been some changes to the once humble email newsletter with the likes of Quartz, Circa and recently-launched Ampp3d leading the charge. This is mostly for two reasons they're writing emails with mobile users in mind and secondly the mails sound like they've been written by a human (a simple thing really, but how many email newsletters do you get that feel like they've been written with you in mind?).
Quartz sends its email in the morning (it has three regions for users to select from), emails are around 800 words long and are perfect for a commuter, containing links not only to Quartz stories, but other links to stories on other sites that people should watch for, things that happened while readers were sleeping, matters for debate, Quartz's obsession interlude and surprising discoveries. I also like that the emails tell me to have a productive day – it's a nice sign-off for a business-focused website. The email is good set-up, digest for the day and one that is clearly worth reading. A recent column from the Monday Note shared an insight that Quartz's daily mail goes through four people, including two editors, before it is sent.
Circa sends only one email a week on a Friday evening with a pick of its stories curated from the week. The most important point about the Circa mail is that it's designed (like everything Circa does) with mobile in mind. Ampp3d, the new data-driven spin-out from the Trinity Mirror group, also has a very nice email, it's probably the most 'human' of the three examples.
Organisations and their audiences have been working collaboratively now for some time. User generated content projects from the BBC and CNN are seven/eight years old. However, I think this year we saw some interesting steps towards proper collaboration between news orgs and audience.
In particular, I think Storyful's Open Newsroom project is a great example of collaboration between a news org and the wider community. There are more than 460 confirmed members so far. Anyone can watch the process, but only verified members can contribute – thus keeping it open but reducing excessive noise and confusion. In August, the Open Newsroom played a key role helping Storyful to verify videos emerging from fresh protests taking place in Cairo. This project has shown great potential for how organised collaboration can produce really good results, especially considering the other conversations we have had this year and the backlash that happened following the Boston Bombings.
I thought BBC News Director James Harding's remarks earlier this month were interesting and telling about where big news orgs are at when it comes to audience: 'When we talk about "our stories", I hope that will mean not just the work of the 8,000 people who work for the BBC, but the information and ideas of the 300 million people who use it.'
Hopefully 2014 will prove to be a more collaborative year.
Finally, for this post, I'd like to talk about the growing importance of private. Of course when I talk about private I mean privacy in a non-private sphere. Most people will have noticed the trend of teenagers and people in their early 20s making their Twitter and Instagram accounts private – some even deactivating their Facebook accounts for short periods to avoid being tagged in photos or checked in to a location. The rising popularity of photo messaging service Snapchat with its 350m photo messages a day has lit a fire under both Twitter and Instagram (don't forget Facebook offered $3bn to acquire Snapchat, which it turned down) with both announcing significant changes to their platforms to include a private photo messaging element in the last few weeks. Twitter users can now send photos in direct messages, while Instagram offers its users the option to send photos to one follower or a small group of up to 15 people.
News orgs (and brands) are already trying to find their feet in this new environment. I've started to receive Snapchat messages from Ampp3d in the last week. It's early days but it's definitely a space to be experimenting in! When it comes to private vs open I don't think it's a competition – we're always transitioning and this is another part of the transition both are going to be a part of our lives in 2014, that's for sure.
This is not a definitive list of the major things that happened this year, but it's my reflection on some of the interesting changes, events and trends. I think we're heading into somewhat uncertain waters with Facebook and also with Twitter. However, that said, there are lots of opportunities ahead for 2014. It's shaping up to be another interesting one.
Here's to a good 2014!
Image credits: clasesdeperiodismo, clasesdeperiodismo, Guudmorning!, Grizdave, croland


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Crystal Bridges Museum the victim of apparent Wal-Mart email hoax
April Fool's Day is four months away, but someone has clearly gotten an early start. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., is the victim of an apparent email hoax linking founder and Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton with workers from the big-box retailer.
The email sent Wednesday said the museum would close its doors Friday in sympathy for Wal-Mart workers who are planning demonstrations over the holiday weekend.
A museum spokeswoman said that all information in the release is false. She said the museum is open Friday.
The fake email quotes Walton saying she and the museum "have decided to stand with the workers of Wal-Mart, the source of my family's fortune, in their Black Friday strikes, walkouts and picket."
Walton, the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, created the museum in 2005. The museum opened its doors to the public in 2011.
Workers at Wal-Mart stores around the country have organized strikes and other forms of demonstration for Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. They are protesting what they claim to be the Wal-Mart's unfair labor practices. In the past, the retailer has been hostile to the idea of a unionized workforce.
The email hoax Wednesday featured the website crystalbridgesfoundation.com, which does not appear to be affiliated with the museum in any way. The fake message also stated the museum will host "a special temporary exhibition on labor in American art" that will open Saturday. No such exhibition appears on the museum's schedule.
The identity of the pranksters remains unclear. The site ArtInfo said the group may be the same people who created fake news releases in protest of the Whitney Museum's 2012 biennial.
Crystal Bridges art museum is reshaping Wal-Mart's hometown
Wal-Mart family's $800-million art museum gift is stupendous -- but not a record
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Suspended for Minnesota's bowl game, Andre McDonald then missed spring practice and left school for what was only described as "personal reasons."
With the start of summer camp less than two months away, though, the wide receiver appears to be slowly emerging from his coach's doghouse.
Speaking to the St. Paul Pioneer Press Thursday, Jerry Kill confirmed that McDonald is enrolled in summer school at UM and is working out (whether that's with his teammates is unclear). While stopping far short of guaranteeing a return, the head coach said he's "cautiously optimistic" the Gophers will have the talented receiver at their disposal once camp rolls around.
"I'm not going to tell everybody his situation," Kill told the Pioneer Press. "But I will tell you that Andre is in summer school right now working out. I feel cautiously optimistic he'll be ready to go."
McDonald was a three-star member of the Gophers' 2012 recruiting class, rated as the No. 3 player in the state of Minnesota that year. Plagued by a minor heart problem early in the year, McDonald played in eight games his true freshman season. He caught 10 passes for 121 yards before being suspended for the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas for a violation of unspecified team rules.


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Student organizations include:
It is the policy of the East Valley Institute of Technology District #401 to provide all persons with equal employment and education opportunities regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age or disability. District grievance procedures will be followed for compliance with Title IX and Section 504 requirements. The compliance officer is the EVIT Superintendent.


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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Lorax, perhaps the most famous anti-industrial crusader from children's literature, is getting support from companies that are willing to go green.
With a host of commercial tie-ins — albeit for eco-friendly products — Universal Pictures will begin promoting "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" this month. The animated movie, set for release March 2 in North America, is about a creature who "speaks for the trees" and fights rampant industrialism in a retelling of the Dr. Seuss children's book first published in 1971.
The studio's nearly 70 launch partners — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Whole Foods Market — are seeking to latch onto the Lorax's nature-friendly message.
Movie tie-ins once meant that kids got plastic toys thrown into their fast food meal containers. But Universal is taking a new approach. The studio, owned by Comcast Corp., is being selective about its partnerships, with a focus on planet-saving activities like planting trees and conserving energy — things that aren't usually the focus of children's movie campaigns.
The EPA, for instance, is using the Lorax character to help promote low-power appliances that carry the Energy Star label. Hilton's DoubleTree hotel chain is sponsoring a trip for four to eco-tourism mecca Costa Rica. The Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam is creating a Lorax-inspired route through its garden, which is home to a number of endangered trees.
Household products maker Seventh Generation plans to put "Lorax Approved" labels on millions of items, including a liquid detergent bottle made with recycled paper.
"Our partners needed to legitimately be in the environmental space," said Universal's president of partnerships and licensing, Stephanie Sperber. "The brands and messages had to ring true to the Lorax story."
IHOP hopes to appeal to parents and kids with a Seussian breakfast of green-colored eggs and ham, a repeat of its successful tie-in with 20th Century Fox's "Horton Hears a Who!" four years ago, as well as distribute seeds for planting.
Universal will no doubt get a big attendance boost among families looking for movies that pack a message and from all the cross-sponsorship.
EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency hopes the movie will help children understand the link between saving energy and saving the environment.
"It's important to connect these dots between energy savings and efficiency and a cleaner environment," she said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "Bringing together the Lorax and Energy Star is a great venue for doing that."
The film was produced by rising star Chris Meledandri, whose Illumination Entertainment has helped turn Universal into a solid competitor in animated movies with its hit "Despicable Me" in 2010.
He is renowned for making hyper-efficient movies, too. Like "Despicable Me," this movie was made for less than $70 million, under half of what competitors like DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. spend on animated blockbusters. Even so, "Despicable Me" sold more than $540 million in movie tickets worldwide.
"A very important part of the theme of the film is about taking responsibility for the world around you," Meledandri said in an interview. "So when we made the film, we looked at every conceivable place where we could take personal responsibility."
And if all the marketing partners weren't enough, the National Education Association's Read Across America will encourage teachers across the country to read the book, "The Lorax," to children on the film's opening date, which happens to be Dr. Seuss' birthday.
Forget fast food toys: 'Lorax' gets green tie-ins
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Lorax, perhaps the most famous anti-industrial crusader from children's literature, is getting support from companies that are willing to go green.


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John Henry Newman and Liturgical Reverence
Ultimately, it's a question of faith: Feature for Catholic convert's feast day, Oct. 9.
The great English convert and Cardinal Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was convinced that the issue of liturgical reverence was of decisive importance in every age of the Church.
In fact, he contended that the presence or absence of this virtue distinguished true believers from fraudulent Christians.
With audacious verbiage, Newman declared, "There never was a time since the apostles' day when the Church was not; and there never was a time but men were to be found who preferred some other way of worship to the Church's way. These two kinds of professed Christians ever have been — Church Christians and Christians not of the Church; and it is remarkable, I say, that while, on the one hand, reverence for sacred things has been a characteristic of Church Christians on the whole, so, want of reverence has been the characteristic on the whole of Christians not of the Church."
He deplored that so few believers possess this virtue.
In a staggering assertion, the cardinal said, "Whole societies called Christian make it almost a first principle to disown the duty of reverence; and we ourselves, to whom as children of the Church reverence is as a special inheritance, have very little of it, and do not feel the want of it."
His analysis is pertinent to our times. In many parish liturgical celebrations, it is not common to find the spirit of reverence of which Newman speaks.
Today, Roman Catholic worship has become tainted with abuses, with illicit deviations, with tactless familiarity, with a loss of the sense of the sacred and with an array of disorders that trivialize the sacraments. One often sees that liturgical services have assumed the countenance of a festival of self-affirmation, are driven by formulas of consumerism, entertainment and psychotherapy or reduced to "artificial theatrics," to use a phrase coined by our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI.
As Newman explains, such disregard for the virtue of reverence in the sacred liturgy is not authentically Christian; it is not even authentically religious.
He asserted, "Indeed, so natural is the connection between a reverential spirit in worshipping God and faith in God that the wonder only is how anyone can for a moment imagine he has faith in God and yet allow himself to be irreverent towards him. To believe in God is to believe in the being and presence of One who is all-holy and all-powerful and all-gracious: How can a man really believe thus of him and yet make free with him? It is almost a contradiction of terms. Hence, even heathen religions have ever considered faith and reverence identical. To believe and not to revere, to worship familiarly and at one's ease, is an anomaly and a prodigy unknown even to false religions, to say nothing of the true one. Not only the Jewish and Christian religions, which are directly from God, inculcate the spirit of reverence and godly fear, but those other religions which have existed or exist, whether in the East or the South, inculcate the same. Worship, forms of worship — such as bowing the knee, taking off the shoes, keeping silence, a prescribed dress and the like — are considered as necessary for a due approach to God. The whole world differing about so many things differing in creed and rule of life, yet agree in this: that God being our Creator, a certain self-abasement of the whole man is the duty of the creature; that he is in heaven, we upon earth: that he is all-glorious and we worms of the earth and insects of a day."
Liturgical reverence or lack thereof is ultimately a question of faith. Do we believe that the Lord of heaven and earth is made present to us in the prescribed rites, words and symbols of the Catholic
liturgy or not? If our answer is Yes, Newman has a response to our acclamation of faith: "I say this, then, which I think no one can reasonably dispute. There are a class of feelings we should have — yes, have in an intense degree — if we literally had the sight of almighty God; therefore, they are the class of feelings which we shall have if we realize his presence. In proportion as we believe he is present, we shall have them; and not to have them is not to realize, not to believe he is present."
Newman's words capture the essence of liturgical reverence: Believing deeply in the Church's liturgy, we stand before the ineffable majesty of the infinite God and behave in accord with that belief.
This is the virtue that must be rediscovered in Catholic worship today, and there is hope on the horizon. The revised English translation of the Roman Missal will be implemented in English-speaking countries this November. This translation reintroduces exalted language throughout the Mass that accentuates the holiness and glory of the Lord. We have every reason to believe that it will infuse a new spirit of reverence in the liturgy and help Catholics once again to perceive who it is they come to encounter at church and thus worship him with the profound honor and respect that he deserves. Or, as Newman would say, we are optimistic that the new translation will arouse "feelings of awe, majesty, tenderness, reverence, devotedness and other feelings which may especially be called Catholic."
Father Timothy Byerley, Ph.D., is a priest of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey.